The bit in Deadpool where he accidentally leaves his bag full of guns in the car because they didn’t have the budget for any gun SFX in the final confrontation is literally the cinematic equivalent of a webcomic artist going “I blew it up because it was taking too long to draw”.
@personaqueen replied:
Is…is that actually why they did that scene?
Yep – last-minute budget cuts. They couldn’t even afford extra gun props at that point; if you watch carefully, you’ll see that the taxi scene is shot so that you only ever actually see Wade handling one particular gun, and the inside of the duffel bag is never visible. It was reportedly mostly full of socks.
It’s absolutely incredible that Deadpool was made at all and a successful film on top of that. They had to leak their own test footage in order to get the movie off the ground. Their marketing department was leaning into internet memes, a notoriously fickle and fast-changing enviornment. Ryan Reynolds, tied to the horrific box office bomb that was Green Lantern, was the lead. The R-rating cut down its potential profits. Its risque content meant no China release. It was put in February, traditionally a “dumping ground” for films Hollywood had no faith in. Its star was hidden behind a mask for most of the film and it had no major stars otherwise, its supporting consisted of a teenage girl, a CGI metal Russian, and a woman most famous for being in abruptly cancelled sci-fi television shows.
Deadpool made a boatload of money. In spite of all of that, it made a boatload of money. That is a triumph and practically miraculous considering how little the studio gave them and how much the deck was stacked against them.
My favorite quote is still “It’s like the studio couldn’t afford more X-Men”